


Who You Are In The Dark of Night

by Ursa_Tattoo



Series: Undarcop AU [6]
Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: (via his subconscious), Alternate Universe, Angst, Avoiding Feelings, Character Study, Dreams, Insecurity, M/M, Night Terrors, Nightmares, President Business is the world's worst dad, Self-Flagellation, Toxic Masculinity, Undar!Benny, Undarcop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-22 07:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19662325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ursa_Tattoo/pseuds/Ursa_Tattoo
Summary: Rex still has nightmares about everything he's been through. Sometimes the nightmares are a little more... personal. (Features Undarcop AU and Cosmo Armstrong.)





	Who You Are In The Dark of Night

**Author's Note:**

> If you've got issues reading personal jabs and insults related to feelings, you'll wanna skip this one, it gets kinda rough for poor Rex. As always, go to rnainframe.tumblr.com for more undarcop and cosmo content.

The dreams always start out basically the same. He's Emmet again, not Rex, and he's back in the relic room, having Lord Business slice the piece off of his back, leaving a massive scar that _still_ aches if he focuses on it too long.

"It must be weird. One minute you're the most special person in the universe. And the next minute, you're _nobody_." That part is always the same, and so is the pain of having the Piece of Resistance sliced away. Rex grew immune to pain like that long ago, but Emmet never did, so he always ends up crying out.

"How could you... How could you do this?" Emmet's voice is scared.

"Do what? Freeze the universe? It's going to be very easy, I have a two hundred step plan that's gone perfectly."

"No." And he's Rex again, still tied up, but he's furious, defiant, gritting his teeth. _"How could you do this to your own **family.** "_ It's his real voice, his rough one, the one that doesn't belong to Emmet.

The Think Tank fades away into the interrogation room, and Business leers down at Rex. Rex's bonds are perfectly mundane, but he can't manage to Break them.

"How could I do this to _family?_ Don't be a child, Emmet." In these dreams, Rex never hears his real name once. "Bonds just tie you down and keep you from doing what needs to be done."

"I _know_ that, bu-" His voice is muted before he can finish.

"Do you know? You still have so much you care about, so much you cling to."

He's allowed to speak again, and he snarls. "I _don't._ Everything I ever cared about is gone."

"You can't lie to dear old dad."

And then they're on board the Rexcelsior, surrounded by the raptors. Rex squirms.

"You love all of this, don't you? You love what you've built?" Rex isn't allowed to respond. "That love makes you _weak_."

Business has the Kragle, but when he shoots it, the raptors and the Rexcelsior's walls crumble into tiny pieces, and Rex screams in rage.

"This is not yours to tamper with, bastard!"

"Of course it is." And then Business is Rex himself, fists lighting with blue to break what the Kragle couldn't. "I'm you, and you're me. You always were, weren't you."

The real Rex writhes, managing to break his bonds at last, but the dream Rex is Business again before he can blink. "Like father, like son. You've learned to lie from me, and you use it more than I _ever_ did."

"I didn't learn _anything_ from you, you were never around." Rex dives at Business, but it's like going through smoke, and he tumbles to the ground.

"Oh, you learned plenty." And then Business is Danny. Is Dane. Is _Powers._ All three, speaking at once.

 _"You're just like your father. That's why we're scared of you."_ And it's just Powers again, lights red and blue, speaking in a double layered voice, Red's sweet tone on top of Blue's stern one. Powers grabs Rex by the throat. "That's why we're enemies. That's why you'll never be anything more than a worthless parasite."

Rex claws at his own throat, trying to make Powers let go, but he won't. This part of the dream is newer, so Powers's next words still knock the breath out of him.

_"That's why we'll never love you."_

"I- I don't-"

It's Red's sweet tone again, saccharine and sarcastic and _cruel._ "You can't lie to us, buddy, we know who you are! You're a monster, we'd never care about you! You really think _love_ is worth anything?"

"I d-don't love y-" He can't get the words out entirely. He never can.

"Of course you do! That's why you're weak, Emmet!"

Powers drops him to the ground, and he wheezes, catching his breath. When he's picked up again, it's Cosmo doing it, holding him in the air by the collar of his shirt.

"We're all alone in this world, Emmet. We were abandoned, so why should we trust each other? I definitely don't trust _you_."

"...But you-"

"You lie to everyone. What's worth caring about?"

"...But we lov-"

Cosmo laughs. It's a sound that Rex lives for, and it's being used to break his heart. "Love? Love is for children, I'm not some toddler that thinks being soft can solve everything. You are."

He's dropped again, his body reverted back to Emmet's. When he looks up, Powers and Cosmo are holding hands, ready to crush him with sheer Breaker power.

They speak in unison. _"You've always just been weak little Emmet Brickowski, looking for someone to love. And that's why you're so easy to get rid of."_

He feels them crush his chest in with a single blow, and he wakes in a cold sweat, clutching his chest and quietly shivering. He runs a hand through his hair, quietly breathing out a swear, when he notices where he is.

...Right. They'd fallen asleep watching a movie, him and Cosmo, and his partner in crime is clinging to him like a baby koala.

He can't fucking stand it. He quietly pries himself free of Cosmo's grip, going to train his strength despite the late hour. He hears Cosmo mumble in his sleep, longing for the contact to return, but Rex ignores it.

They say recovery isn't linear, but the dreams always put Rex right back at square one, working on strength training until he's unable to feel, just like a real man should be.

~~It never feels as good as he wants it to. He always ignores that too. The cycle continues.~~


End file.
